Rutgers Law School Leadership

We embrace change here at Rutgers Law School, and we are excited about the challenges and opportunities ahead. Each year, we welcome a diverse group of students, many of whom are the first generation in their families to go to college or graduate school. Through a range of academic opportunities, both inside and outside of the classroom, those students develop professional identities as zealous, ethical and outstanding lawyers. Whether in private practice, government service or public interest careers, our students graduate ready to take on the world.

Given our location, the possibilities are limitless. With proximity to New York City on our Newark campus, Philadelphia on our Camden campus, and the state of New Jersey from both campuses, students enjoy access to some of the most vibrant and promising employment markets in the country. Our dual campuses in Newark and Camden offer students the opportunity to explore intellectual interests that span both campuses. Our faculty members are thought leaders in their fields who provide an academically rigorous but supportive academic environment.

Our students are also change-makers. Rutgers Law School has a long history of engaged learning, in which students use their developing legal skills to positively impact their communities. Many students take advantage of our renowned clinical program, which offers students the opportunity to represent real clients under the close supervision of our outstanding clinical faculty. Nothing is quite as motivating as knowing that your preparation and your legal analysis may, for example, make the difference between deportation or a path to citizenship for a newly arrived asylum-seeker. Rutgers Law School students routinely give back to the community and in so doing, transform the lives of others.

Whether you are a prospective student, a current student, an alum, a staff member, or a faculty member, you are part of our community, and we welcome you here at RLS. Join us as we change the world through actions large and small.

 -- Johanna Bond | Dean, Rutgers Law School

Johanna Bond, Dean and Professor of Law

Dean Johanna Bond began leading Rutgers Law School in July 2023. She is an expert in international human rights law and gender and the law. Bond comes from the faculty of Washington and Lee University School of Law and previously served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Arthur Laby, Vice Dean and Professor of Law (Camden)

Vice Dean Arthur Laby is Co-Director of the Rutgers Center for Corporate Law and Governance , a recognized expert in securities law, the regulation of investment management, and the fiduciary relationship. His research focuses on investment management regulation, the duties of market participants, and the fiduciary obligation.

Shani King, Vice Dean and Professor of Law (Newark)

Vice Dean Shani King is Director of the Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice. His primary area of interest is children’s rights, but he covers other substantive areas that intersect with the rights of children, including immigration law and policy, educational law, and race and the law.

Victoria Chase, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Clinical Associate Professor of Law (Camden)

Victoria Chase directs the Domestic Violence Clinic. Professor Chase also oversees a statewide appellate project for domestic violence matters. In addition to her expertise in legal remedies for violence against women, she has past experience in disability law, transportation law, environmental law, and family law.

Ronald Chen, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University Professor, Distinguished Professor of Law (Newark)

Ronald K. Chen is University Professor, Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Leonard I. Garth Scholar.  He was dean of the School of Law--Newark and the first co-dean of Rutgers Law School resident in Newark from 2013-2018.  He is the former Public Advocate of New Jersey. 

Paul Rollins, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Planning and Administration

Dean Rollins oversees human resources, academic planning as it relates to new programs, non-JD programs, the Business Services Department, and the implementation of strategic planning initiatives.

Nancy Talley, Senior Associate Dean for Information Services (Camden)

Dean Talley directs the law library in Camden. She provides legal research and information literacy instruction to students through her involvement in the first-year legal analysis, writing and research course, and in advanced courses.

Caroline Young, Senior Associate Dean for Information Services (Newark)

Dean Young oversees the provision of all reference services at Rutgers Law Library in Newark, serving the faculty, students and general public by supervising Public Services and Access Services.  She teaches Social Justice in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Legal Research.  Before coming to Rutgers, Caroline worked at a legal research company and was a medical information professional at the New York University School of Medicine.

Amy Miller, Associate Dean of Student Affairs (Camden)

Amy Miller's primary focus is the well-being and success of over 500 law students. In this capacity, she provides crucial support in counseling, academic advisement, and mental health programming. Additionally, she oversees the management of ADA accommodations and the handling of academic integrity matters, while also spearheading the coordination of exams, registration, and hallmark events such as Orientation and Commencement.

Sarah K. Regina, Associate Dean for Student Affairs (Newark)

Dean Regina is responsible for the Student Affairs matters for a student body of approximately 800 students. This includes counseling, academic advisement, and professionalism and mental health programming. Her office also manages the implementation of all ADA classroom and testing accommodations as well as the adjudication of academic integrity matters.

Jill Friedman, Associate Dean for Pro Bono and Public Interest

Dean Friedman leads the Pro Bono and Public Interest Program team at Rutgers Law School at both campuses. She is also a co-founder of the New Jersey Innocence Project at Rutgers University.

Andrew Rossner, Associate Dean for Professional and Skills Education and Distinguished Professor of Professional Practice (Newark)

Dean Rossner is the director of Rutgers Institute for Professional Education, which offers high-quality, engaging, and affordable continuing legal education (CLE) programs at both Camden and Newark. He is faculty adviser to the Moot Court Board and coaches the National Mock Trial Team.

Robert Steinbaum, Associate Dean for Advancement (Newark)

Dean Steinbaum directs alumni relations for the Rutgers Law. Previously, he served as publisher of the New Jersey Law Journal for 26 years and group publisher of the Connecticut Law Tribune during the last eight of those years.

Clifford Dawkins,  Assistant Dean and Director of the Minority Student Program (Newark)

MSP is a post-admission program that provides academic support, mentoring and summer internship opportunities to diverse law students who are underrepresented in the legal field and to law students, regardless of race and ethnicity, who have overcome socio-economic or educational challenges during their journey to law school. Immediately prior to joining the Rutgers Law School, Dean Dawkins served as an employment and labor law expert, community organizer, and well-regarded public speaker on the issue of diversity and discrimination.

Rhasheda Douglas,  Assistant Dean of the Minority Student Program (Camden)

Immediately prior to joining the Rutgers Law School, Douglas served as the Title IX Manager at Rowan University, where Douglas provided key guidance in ensuring the University’s compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA)

Wei Fang, Associate Dean for Information Technology and Head of Digital Services (Newark)

Dean Fang directs the IT department for the Newark location. He has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on digital library and video repository.

Stephanie Gomez, Acting Assistant Dean for Career Development (Newark)

Dean Gomez works with students on all aspects of career planning and manages the judicial clerkship application program. Prior to joining Rutgers Law School, she was a litigation associate in Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman's New York office. Dean Gomez is a graduate of the Law School, where she was a member of the Minority Student Program, Managing Editor of Rutgers University Law Review, and Co-chair of Rutgers Moot Court Board.

Rebekah Verona, Assistant Dean for Career Development (Camden)

Dean Verona advises students and alumni on a wide range of career planning issues, including private practice, government, and public interest careers, as well as judicial clerkships and alternative legal paths. She also works closely with employers to assist them in using office resources to maximize the recruitment of Rutgers Law School students and alumni. Prior to joining Rutgers, she practiced environmental litigation at the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.

Matthew Saleh, Senior Associate Dean for Enrollment Management & Financial Aid

Prior to joining Rutgers Law School, Dean Saleh served as the Assistant Dean for Admissions at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of law, where he worked for seven years.

Thea Johnson, Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development, Professor of Law

Dean Johnson is a scholar of criminal procedure and one of the country's leading experts on plea bargaining practice and reform. Her scholarship focuses on the role of plea bargaining in the criminal legal system, including the ways in which stakeholders manipulate the plea process and stretch ethical boundaries to achieve particular outcomes.

Randi Mandelbaum, Associate Dean for Clinical Education (Newark), Professor of Law

Randi Mandelbaum has devoted her career to working with children and families.  As the founding director of the Child Advocacy Clinic, she spearheads a unique clinical program, which is aimed at comprehensively addressing the needs of low-income children and their families. The CAC provides representation to foster children, undocumented immigrant children, and low income children with disabilities. 

Sandra Simkins, Associate Dean for Clinical Education (Camden), Professor of Law

Sandra Simkins is the Director and co-founder of the Children’s Justice Clinic and a nationally-recognized expert in juvenile defense. A published author, she was selected by the McArthur Foundation to participate in a juvenile justice reform initiative and is the Due Process Monitor in the settlement agreement between the Department of Justice and the Juvenile Court of Shelby County Tennessee.